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Secutarii Hoplite
A Secutarii Hoplite is a footsoldier of the Legiones Secutarii, those independent armies of Skitarii Tech-Guards bound in service to the Titan Legions of the Collegia Titanica. In marked contrast to their Secutarii Peltast brethren, Hoplites are equipped defensively to withstand large-scale infantry assaults and keep the Titans under their protection from being overrun by infantry swarms. Their tenacity in this mission is almost legendary, as each and every one of these cybernetically-augmented warriors believes it is his oath-bound duty to give his life to safeguard the God-engine he is charged with protecting. On the battlefield, large Phalanxes of Secutarii Hoplites can be frequently seen to hold fast at the feet of the Titans, a thin line of metal-cased bodies holding back a screaming tide of enemies, like a meagre dam holding back the fury of a stormy sea. Yet their discipline and resilience is such that the Hoplites often emerge victorious from these engagements. Role The Hoplites are the principal battlefield formation of the Secutarii and the backbone of their strength. Designed specifically as a defensive force capable of fighting on the most violent and hazardous of battlefields, their main task is to keep the Titan God-engines from getting bogged down by lesser enemies or swarmed by enemy infantry and infiltrators. Especially in large numbers, the disciplined ranks of a Secutarii Hoplite Phalanx are counted amongst the most resolute and durable troops of Mankind's armies. Their equipment is designed to improve their durability, the combination of Mag-inverter Shields and Kyropatris Field Generators making them one of the best-protected infantry units in the known galaxy, surpassed perhaps only by Adeptus Astartes Terminators. Surgically implanted within a Hoplite's body, the Kyropatris Field Generator uses the proximity of the similar devices implanted in the other Secutarii of the Phalanx to reinforce its own defensive capabilities, and the crackling energy barriers created by the interlocking waves of a Phalanx's shield generators can stop even heavy weapons fire before it reaches the Hoplites. Aided by their unique personal defensive shields, Secutarii Hoplites are able to withstand phenomenal amounts of enemy firepower and still endure. In counterattack, the Secutarii Hoplites are equally deadly, their Arc Lances allowing them to bathe the battlefield in murderous torrents of artificial lightning, blast at the foe at close range or punch through the body of his forces in hand-to-hand combat where their servo-powered limbs and combat training will often give them the upper hand. Their Cogitator-assisted brains allow them to keep contact with their own officers and download specific battlefield or hazard protocols which allow for a great tactical polyvalence and fluidity of command. Be it as dispersed lines of skirmishers acting as escorts for the Titan-engines or densely-packed advancing Phalanxes, a Secutarii Hoplite is a deadly opponent who will always respond remarkably well to orders and will know how to handle himself in combat. While their preferred method of combat is on foot, some squads are known to have been fielded as mechanised infantry with the Hoplite Phalanx embarking aboard a Triaros Armoured Conveyor for greater speed and mobility. Unit Composition *'9-19 Secutarii Hoplites' *'1 Hoplite Alpha' Wargear and a fearsome Arc Lance]] *'Arc Lance' - The Arc Lance is the signature weapon of the Secutarii Hoplites, a title which can be traced back to the very dawn of humanity's long and glorious history. It is also perhaps in remembrance of those warriors that the Arc Lance resembles an ancient polearm, although the technology it harbours is amongst the finest examples of Martian craftmanship and ingenuity. While the Arc Lance lacks the devastating firepower of the Guardian Spears carried by the Adeptus Custodes, it does not shun the comparison. Both weapons are designed to combine hand-to-hand and ranged capabilities. The Arc Lance uses coruscating electromagnetic energy to deliver damage, which is released on physical impact. The blasts can also be focused into short beams which can be used to disrupt enemy technology. *'Mag-inverter Shield' - The Mag-inverter Shield is another item exclusive to the Secutarii Hoplites which has been designed to both protect the Secutarii and enhance their offensive capabilities. The shield usually takes the form of a great pavise which houses a singular device, an inversion generatoria which captures kinetic or directed energy blasts and uses it to power the Hoplite's Arc Lance. *'Kyropatris Field Generator' - Access to the Kyropatris Field Generator is perhaps what most readily distinguishes a Secutarii from a Skitarii. The Kyropatris Field Generator is a portable device that may be mistaken as a backpack at first glance, when it is in fact a cybernetic implant entirely fused with the Hoplite's ribcage and abdomen. Unlike many other portable defensive shield devices of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Kyropatris Field Generator is tuned to others of its kind so that in close proximity to each other, two such devices will mutually reinforce each other using constructive harmonics. Used in significant number, the Kyropatris generators of a unit of Secutarii projects an invisible force shield capable of stopping or diverting even heavy weapon fire. *'Secutarii War-Plate' - A Secutarii's battle armour is cybernetically grafted as a second skin to his flesh. A Secutarii Alpha may also be equipped with a: *'Power Weapon (Any Type)' *'Arc Maul' *'Omnispex' *'Shattersphere Grenades' *'Augury Scanner' Sources *''The Horus Heresy - Book Seven: Inferno'' (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 287, 288, 291 Category:S Category:Adeptus Mechanicus Category:Collegia Titanica Category:Skitarii Category:Imperium